Monday, May 2 2005 12:40 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Pune: The Liberhan Commission, which is enquiring into the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992, would reveal the names of those who had demolished the disputed structure at Ayodhya, former Union Home Secretary Dr Madhav Godbole said.

"Let us wait for the report of the Liberhan Commission to know who was responsible for the demolition of Babri Masjid, me as Union Home Secretary, the Centre, the State Government or the politicians," Godbole said reacting to the Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's statement in Pune on Saturday (Apr 30, 2005) in which he had held the former bureaucrat's passiveness responsible for the demolition of the disputed structure.

Pawar in a recent interview to a local daily had held the Godbole Committee's recommendation as responsible for the current power crisis in Maharashtra, triggering off a wordy duel between the two, though the retired bureaucrat today (May 2, 2005) at a press conference made it clear that he would no more react to any statements from the Central Minister.

"All my efforts to avoid such a national calamity failed due to decisions at the political level and in sheer disgust I took voluntary retirement from service in March, 1993. The full account of all the happenings during the critical period had been given in the two chapters of my memoirs 'Unfinished Innings: Recollections And Reflections of a Civil Servant,' he added.

Pawar, who is raking up these issues after 12 years of my retirement, should have known what are the powers of the States and the Centre in matters pertaining to law and order and police as enshrined in the Constitution of India. He may also be aware of the Centre's move to introduce in Parliament a bill to assume certain powers to deal with communal violence in future, Godbole said.

The powers to deal with law and order problems and policing in States had been with the Centre, then the Union Government certainly would have taken steps as per the recommendations of Srikrishna Commission, set up to investigate the serial blasts in Mumbai in 1993, he said. Questioned whether he would agree to chair another committee if asked by the Vilasrao Deshmukh Government to go into the problem of current energy crisis in the State, the retired bureaucrat said that he has no such intention and would never ever agree.